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All posts for the month November, 2014

Realizing growth and comfort don’t co-exist its likely more Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity are on the horizon. In order to ensure 2015 is an exceptional year, an Advance meeting of your elected and appointed officials should be scheduled. Much more than a traditional retreat, our approach enables a group to unify their focus on future conditions to generate progressive strategies and innovative tactics to effectively anticipate and respond to changing circumstances.

“Patrick Ibarra brought a new level of strategic thinking to our annual strategic planning session. He stretched our minds, helped bridge the gap between council members and City staff, and made sure we ended up with a list of goals that could be realistically accomplished. Patrick really brought his knowledge of how cities work to our session, and opened the door for our continuous improvement. I’d recommend Patrick and his team to anyone who wants to bring new energy and productivity to their meetings.”

Tim Reed, Mayor

City of Brookings, South Dakota

Organizations are continually presented with unexpected opportunities and unanticipated problems. Hard choices must be made, sometimes quickly, often under conditions in which little is certain. It can be easy to become distracted by these challenges expending time, money, and energy on activities that divert people’s attention from the organization’s principal goals. To avoid these distractions, organization members – including staff from top to bottom – need to understand clearly what the organization’s goals are and what it will take to achieve them. This is where convening elected and senior appointed officials plays a pivotal role.

Assembling this group allows your organization to make fundamental decisions that guide them to a developed vision of the future. To fortify relationships among all members and increase a shared understanding about the future and how the government, in prioritizing services and resources, will determine the best path forward in its quest to deliver high quality public services.

Selection of a facilitator is a key to successful Advance meetings. Experienced facilitators ensure all points of view are aired and considered. We utilize thought-provoking and relevant exercises to actively engage the group, use consensus decision-making techniques, guide group discussions to stay on track, manage conflict using a collaborative approach, and create an environment where members enjoy a positive, growing experience while they work to attain group goals.

Patrick Ibarra is extremely effective as a guide and catalyst partnering with groups by utilizing his in-depth understanding about local government operations with a highly interactive, thought-provoking and practical approach to group facilitation. The result is a unified group recommitted to tackling, with a laser-like focus, today’s toughest challenges confronting local government leaders.

Patrick has worked with a number of governments helping elected and appointed officials translate the headwinds of change into a tailwind. These include the cities of Austin (TX), Brookings (SD), Maricopa (AZ), McKinney (TX), Olathe (KS), Queen Creek (AZ), San Francisco (CA), San Jose (CA), Seguin (TX), Tempe (AZ) and West Hollywood (CA) as well as Housing Authorities in Alameda (CA) and San Antonio (TX).

Over the last few months, our team has consulted with different organizations of various sizes.

Patrick designed and facilitated an Advance meeting with the Executive Leadership Team of the City of Pasadena, California resulting in a series of targeted action steps to strengthen the workplace culture.

The beginning of a new year is the opportune time to begin looking forward. Consequently, Patrick recently designed and facilitated Advance meetings with members of the governing body and City executive team resulting in a fortified approach to building stronger communities in:

Aberdeen, South Dakota

Avondale, Arizona

Bainbridge Island, Washington

Brookings, South Dakota

Chandler, Arizona

Maricopa, Arizona

Queen Creek, Arizona

Ruidoso, New Mexico

Patrick presented his “Leading Change isn’t a Spectator Sport” workshop in Albuquerque at the New Mexico City Managers Association Winter Conference and in Boise to the Idaho City Managers Association.

Patrick presented his training/learning workshop entitled “Change and Innovation: Two Pillars of Organizational Effectiveness” for the Executive Leadership Team of the City of Hurst, Texas.

In Chandler, Arizona, Patrick launched in September and completed in December, the City’s inaugural organization-wide Leadership Development Program. The second Pilot Group completed their 360-degree Self-Assessment in February and the cohort group of ten aspiring managers will, in March, begin attending a series of six half-day learning/training workshops designed and presented by Patrick.

On the campus of Arizona State University Sky Song in Scottsdale, at a Next Generation Leadership Conference sponsored by Arizona State University, the Alliance for Innovation and the Mejorando Group, Patrick delivered the keynote address “A Pencil: The Future of Government and Me and My Career.”

In Fort Collins, Colorado Patrick was retained to design and implement a Knowledge Transfer Program for the Chief Sustainability Office and City Attorney’s Office.

Patrick delivered “Your Recipe for Career Success” address to wrap-up the Professional Development Network series of leadership development for the City of Mesa, Arizona.

In West University Place, Texas Patrick started an assessment of the City’s Direct Link Alarm System.

In Santa Clara, California Patrick served as the keynote speaker for the Baywork Conference, presenting “Implementing a Practical Knowledge Transfer Program.” Baywork is a consortium of utility service providers.

Patrick presented his “Leading Change” workshop for the Arizona State University Bob Ramsey Executive Education Program.

In Oakland, California, Patrick presented two supervisory training/learning workshops for the East Bay Municipal Utility District.

Building a strong and capable workforce is a never-ending journey. Read our recommendations on how to transition from the workforce you have to the workforce you need.

Frustrated because your agency’s ability to attract, retain and develop top performers is not at the level it should be? If you replied yes, you’re not alone! The Mejorando Group consultants are experienced architects and contractors in developing and implementing contemporary integrated Talent Management systems for governments nationwide. Below are several client success stories that showcase how we assisted government organizations to transition their workforce from what they had to what they wanted.

Town of Gilbert, Arizona

Designed and implemented a comprehensive and systematic Talent Management Program that identified “at risk” positions (i.e. jobs) within the city workforce, created competency models, identified department-specific knowledge transfer strategies and tactics, along with specific improvements to recruitment, selection, training, development, on-boarding and performance management practices.

City of Chandler, Arizona

Created competency models for employees at all levels in the organization. Also, developed and presented a Pilot Leadership Program including administering a 360-degree feedback process for participants and designing and delivering a series of learning/training workshops in a cohort format.

City of Fremont, California

Identified critical positions and created competency models for employees at all levels in the organization. A series of recommendations were provided to translate these into the City’s Succession Planning Program.

City of Fort Collins, Colorado and Costa Mesa (CA) Sanitary District

Designed and implemented a Knowledge Management Transfer Program for members of senior management in the Utilities Department. This included conducting Expert Interviews (of select group of job incumbents), creating Position Profiles, and providing a series of specific transfer tools and techniques.

For more information on Talent Management Programs, contact us today at patrick@gettingbetterallthetime.com.